I traveled to American Samoa last week on business. I had never been there before and was excited to check it out, experience the culture, and enjoy the food.
The total population on the island is approximately 65,000 people, which is about the population of Pleasanton. The people live in small villages around the island. The Samoan people are fun, friendly, and love to laugh. We waved to the people as we drove through the villages and the people smiled and waved back.
There are only two flights in and out of American Samoa each week, one on Thursday and one on Sunday. We caught the Thursday flight into Samoa, took care of our business on Friday, and enjoyed the weekend before flying home on Sunday.
Samoa requires one to slow down...in more ways than one. The speed limit is 25 MPH over most of the island...except when it was 20 MPH. Type-A Americans may have trouble adapting, but I enjoyed every moment of it. On Saturday, we hiked in the National Park, enjoyed lunch overlooking the ocean, consumed lots of beer (in a responsible manner), swam in the warm, clear water, showered, and went to dinner for more good eats. The only stress all day was trying to select an entree from all of the wonderful choices on the menu. I went for the Oka, which is raw fish marinated in lime juice and coconut milk. It's like Samoan poke....I need to get the recipe for it!
On Sunday, we went for a short hike down to the coast, had a nice lunch of fish and Papaya kabobs at Tisa's Barefoot Bar and Grill, enjoyed a swim in the warm ocean under a hot sun, and then headed to the airport for our flight home. I was hoping someone would steal my passport, forcing me to spend another week there, but no such luck. I am definitely looking forward to getting back there some day...
Okay, enough ramblings about Samoa. Here are a few pictures from the trip, captured on my Nikon FM2.
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
American Samoa
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment